Micrometer or tension wrench



Dec. 16, 1924-.

G. RHFFLARD MICHGME'IER OR TENSION WRENCH Filed Feb. 18, 1924 INVENTOR.

a025, 61M; f ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 16, 11924 GEORGES RIFFLARD,

OF NEW YORK, N. "L'.

IMICROMETER 0R TENSION WRENCH.

Application filed February 18, 1924. Serial N 0. 693,521.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnonens RIFFLARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Micrometer or Tension Wrenches; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact de scription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The present invention has reference, generally, to improvements in tension wrenches of the general character shown and described in my prior Letters Patent of the United States, No. 1,303,595, dated May 13th, 1919; and this invention relates, more particularly, to various detail improvements in the con struction of the novel tension wrench, and additional novel features for improving the operation and manipulation of the wrench.

As in the case of my aforesaid prior patent, the invention has for its principal object to provide a micrometer tension wrench adapted to manipulate various mechanical elements, such as screws, bolts, nuts and the like, to tighten or set the same to desired pro determined pressure or tension. For example, the novel tool or wrench may be used with advantage for the following and simi lar purposes To produce exact desired tension of bracing wires on aeronautical structures, wire wheels for automobiles, bicycles and other vehicles; to set the springs of safety valves on boilers or compression tanks to exact required tension, and to adjust the tension of various types of automatic valves; to give equal and predetermined pressure on all spring valves of different types of internal combustion engines; in connection with automatic machinery to determine desired pressure or tension of release or other springs; and for use generally, where its special func tions are of advantage, in connection with all engineering and mechanical work.

To the above ends this invention provides a novel work engaging means, a handle or lever means for carrying and actuating said work engaging means, and an automatic releasable means for cooperatively interconnecting said handle or lever with said work engaging means, combined with an adjustable tension means for predetermining the operation of said releasable means; and in connection with this combination, the invention provides a means for automatically holding said releasable means in released position, when the same is moved thereto, and also a novel tripping means for disengaging said holding means at will.

Gther objects of this invention, not at this time more particularly enumerated, will be clearly understood from the following ole tailed description of the same.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the novel construction of tension wrench, made according to and embodying the principles of the present invention; Figure 2 is an edge elevation of the same; Figure 3 is a Vertical longitudinal section, taken on line 33 in said F lgure 2; Figure a is also a vertical longitudinal section, through the lower end of the tool, taken on line 4-4 in said Figure 1; Figure 5 is a sectional view similar to that shown in Figure 3, but illustrating the handle or lever released from actuating relation to the work engaging means; Figure 6 is a fragmentary side view of the work engaging means, showing an auxiliary work engaging element in wrench form attached thereto; Flgure 7 is a vertical section, taken on line 7-4" in Figure 6; and Figure 8 is a view similar to that shown in Figure 6, but illustrating a modified form of work engaging means.

Similar characters of reference are employed in all of the hereinabove described views, to indicate corresponding parts.

Referring now to said drawings, the reference character 1 indicates a main barrel or handle member, provided in its upper portion with an internal chamber 2. integrally connected with the lower end of said main barrel or handle member 1 is a bifurcated portion or fork member 3, the arms of which are laterally spaced apart, and which are further provided with perforations to receive and support a transverse crosspin or axle member Extending longitudinally and axially between the inner lower end of said chamber 2 and the space intermediate the arms of said bifurcated portion or fork memer 3 is a guideway 5 of reduced diameter.

Rotatably mounted upon said cross-pin or axle member 4, so as to be disposed intermediate the arms of said bifurcated portion or fork member 3, is a wrench-plate 6, provided with a plurality of radially projecting arms 7, the free terminations of which are formed to provide wrench sockets 8 of various sizes. Disposed on each side of said wrench-plate 6 are star or ratchet wheels 9, having at their peripheries a plurality of serrations or teeth 10 which bound intermediate notches or sockets 11. Said star or ratchet wheels 9 are fixed to said wrenchplate, so as to move therewith, by means of dowel pins 12.

The inner side of each arm of said bifurcated portion or fork member 3 is provided with a pair of longitudinally extending spaced apart guide ribs 13 located above said star or ratchet wheels 9. Vertically slidable between said arms of said bifurcated port-ion or fork member 3, and so as to be guided by said guide ribs 13, is a lock-block comprising a T-head 1a, the respective ends of which project outwardly toward the respective side margins of the arms of said bifurcated portion or fork member 3; one of said ends of said T-head providing a latch-shoulder 15, the purpose of which will be subsequently described. Extending downwardly from said T-head 14 is a fork portion, the arms 16 of which straddle said wrench-plate 6, and which terminate in look nosings 17 shaped to re speetively lit and engage in a notch or socket 11 of the respective star or ratchet wheels 9. Connected with said lock-block is a stem or plunger rod 18, which extends up- Wardly and slidably through said guideway 5 into the chamber 2 of said main barrel or handle member I. Said stem or plunger rod 18 is provided, adjacent to its upper end and within said chamber 2, with an annular enlargement or shoulder 19 which provides a seat for operatively engaging with said stem or plunger rod a compression s ring 20, which is disposed within the c amber 2 of said main barrel or handle member 1.

The upper end portion of said main barrel or handle member 1 is provided with external screw-threads 21 of desired pitch and size. The reference character 22 indicates a micrometer head or cap which is provided with internal screw-threads 23 to engage with the external screw-threads 21 of said main barrel or handle member 1. Said head or cap 22 is provided at its upper end with an end wall 24, and threaded through said wall, in axial alignment with said main barrel or handle member 1, is the threaded shank 25 of a thrust stud 26, which supports a seating thimble 27 having an annular flange 28 for operatively backing said compression spring 20. Suitably fixed upon the outer end of said threaded shank 25 is an annular finger piece 29, by means of which said shank 25 may be turned to adjust the thruststud 26 and its seating thimble 27, to thereby, in turn, regulate and adjust the compression spring 20 to desired normal initial tension.

The tension of said compression spring 20 exerts a downward thrust upon said stem or plunger rod 18, which is communicated to said lock-block, to thereby thrust the arms 16 of the fork portion downward so that the lock-nosings 1'? will operatively engage in notches or sockets 11 of the respective star or ratchet wheels 9, to thereby normally hold the wrench plate 6 against rotation. The screwing downward of the micrometer head or cap 22 increases the compression or tension of the sprin 20 and consequently increases the strength or weight of its operative thrust upon said stem or plunger rod 18 and the lock-block, as the latter cooperates with the star or ratchet wheels 9 of the wrenchplate 6. The lower end of said micrometer head or cap 22 is provided with a bevel or chamfered skirt or edge portion 30, which coacts with the smooth cylindrical surface of the lower portion of said main barrel or handle member 1. Said bevel or chamfered skirt or edge portion 30 is provided with a series of graduations which cooperate with scale graduations on the said cylindrical surface of said lower portion of said main barrel or handle member 1. For example, the scale on said portion 30 of the micrometer head or cap 22 may be subdivided to provide sixteen subdivisions dcnoting ounces, and the scale on said main barrel or handle-member may consist of vertical subdivisions indicating pounds. The character of the compression spring 20 and the pitch of the coacting threads interconnecting aid micrometer head or cap 22 with said main barrel or handle member 1 may be such that one complete turn of the former 011 the latter increases the exerted tension of the compression spring one pound. The scale on said main barrel or handle member 1 also includes a meridian line with which the subdivisions of the scale on said head or cap may be caused to cooperate to indicate ounces or fractions of pound. The described. measure of force exerted by increasing or decreasing the tension of the spring 20, may be varied and the parts predetermined in character, relation and quality to operate with other units of measurement than ounces and pounds, as will be understood. As in my former patent, above referred to, it will be understood that my improved construction of micrometer tension wrench may be set so that the operative relation between the handle member and wrench plate will automatically release it self when a resistance is offered to the movement of the wrench plate beyond the predotermined force exerted upon the lock-block by the compression spring, and that as a consequence, the wrench may be employed to adjust various mechanisms to desired exact predetermined tensions, for the lock nosings 16 will ride out of the engaged notches or sockets 11 of the star or ratchet wheels 9 under such circumstances, and the handle member will be no longer efiectively related or coupled to the wrench-plate so as to operatively turn the same.

I have found it highly desirable to provide means for automatically latching or holding the lock-block of the handle member in released position when once the same is raised clear of the notches or sockets of the star or ratchet wheel, for under such circumstances, it is much easier to adjust the wrench plate 6 to select a desired wrench arm thereof for use. The provision of such means, so functioning, is one of the important improvements with which my pres ent invention deals. The novel means provided for this purpose comprises a latch spring consisting of a pair of spring arms 31 interconnected at their free ends by a latch bar 32. Each spring arm 31 is provided at its lower end with a right-angularly disposed perforate ear 33. The latchspring thus constructed is secured to the bifurcated portion or fork member 3 of the main barrel or handle member 1 so that the ears 33 respectively overlap the outer sides of the arms of said bifurcated portion or fork member 3, being secured by screws 3a or other suitable fastening means. The spring arms 31 extend upwardly along the edges of said arms of the bifurcated portion or fork member 3, said edges being cut away as at 35 to provide seats for the said spring arms. The latch bar 32 connected with the upper free ends of said spring arms 31 is thus disposed to extend transversely across the space intermediate the arms of said bifurcated portion or fork member 3, and said latch-bar is provided at its ends with outwardly projecting lugs 36., which extend laterally beyond the outer side surfaces of said arms of said bifurcated portion or fork-member 3. When the lock block is in operative lowered position, with its lock nosing l7 operatively engaged in notches or sockets 11 of the star or ratchet wheel 9, so as to operatively interconnect the main barrel or handle member 1 with the wrench-plate 6, the latch spring is outwardly flexed so that said latch-bar 32 overlaps an end of the T-head 1 1 of said lockblock, all as shown in Figure 3 of the drawings. Assuming that the compression spring 20 has been adjusted by manipulation of the micrometer head or cap to exert a force of one pound upon the lock-block, so that the wrench-plate 6 when applied to work will turn the nut, bolt or the like until a resistance in excess of one pound is accumulated, it then follows that the resistance ofiered to the turning of the wrench-plate 6 with its star or ratchet wheels 9 will overcome the pressure of the spring 20, so that the lock nosings will ride up the sides of the teeth 10 of the star or ratchet wheels, and out of the theretofore engaged notches or sockets of the latter, and consequently the lock-block will move upward and the main barrel or handle member 1 will be released from operative actuating relation to the wrench-plate 6. When the lock-block is thus caused to rise, the T-head 1 1 will be moved upward until the end of the same, toward the latch spring, clears the latch bar 32, whereupon the tension of the latch spring will swing the latch-bar inwardly beneath the latch-shoulder 15 of said T- head, all as shown in Figure 5 of the drawings. When the parts assume the last described position, it will be apparent that the lock-block will be held in raised position against the tension or pressure of the spring 20, and that consequently the wrenclrplate 6 and its star or ratchet wheels 9 may be turned at will in either direction, thus facilitating the selection and proper disposing of the wrench arm next desired to be employed in use.

in wrenches of the smaller sizes, the lockblock may be released for return to operative relation to the star or ratchet wheels of the wrench-plate, by pressing with the fingers outwardly against the lugs 36 of the latch-spring, to outwardly flex the latter and thereby remove the latch bar from engagement with the latclrshoul'der 1f) of the T-head 14, so that the lock-block may be forced downwardly by the pressure of the spring 20. In larger sizes of wrenches, in the construction of which it is desirable to use a heavier and stiffer latchspring, it may be desirable to provide an easily actuatable means for outwardly flexing said latch-spring. I have therefore provided as a part of this invention a means for such purpose. This means consists of a cam 37 pivotally mounted on the outer side surface of one of the arms of said bifurcated portion or fork member 3, to cooperate with one of the lugs 36 of said latch-spring. This cam 37 is provided with an upwardly extending arm 38 which terminates in an outwardly projecting lever portion 39 that extends beyond the adjacent edge of said arm of the bifurcated portion or fork member 3. Said lever portion 39 possesses a right angled extension or trigger member 10 which extends tansversely above the latch-bar of the latch-spring. Arranged intermediate the fork 3 and said trigger member 40 is a spring -11, the tension of which holds said trigger-member 40 outwardly moved, and through the interconnecting parts the cam 37 in normal inactive position, which position is determined by a stop-pin l2 opposed to the arm 38 of said arm 37. When it it desired. to release the latch-bar 32 of the latch-spring from holding relation to the lock-block, as above described, the operator presses inwardly with the thumb upon the trigger member d0, thereby turning the cam 37 on its pivotal connection or fulcrum, so that said cam rotates against the lug 36 of the latch-spring to outwardly flex the latter. The above described operations and construction will be clearly understood from an inspection of Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings.

Referring to Figures 6 and 7 of the drawings, l have shown therein a novel form of auxiliary detachable wrench-jaw member as which may be attached to the wrench arms of the wrench-plate 6 to provide wrench sockets of increased or decreased sizes, as may be desirable. Said wrenchjaw member a3 is provided with an inner lug or block 44: to fit into the socket ot a given wrench arm of the wrench-plate and integrally connected with the same at each face is a flange or skirt 4L5, which straddles the wrench arm above the socket. A fastening screw 46, or other suitable fastening element is passed through said flanges or skirts 45 and through the body of said wrench arm to secure and operatively interlock the parts together, and thereby attach the auxiliary wrench-jaw member d3 to the wrench-plate (S.

In Figure 8 I have shown a similar auxiliary attachment, also provided with the same kind of attaching means, as indicated by the Similar reference characters, but

which is provided, in place of the wrenchjaw, with a pin lever 4:7, suitable for application to turn-buckles and kindred devices which it is desired to manipulate by means 0t my novel wrench device.

I am aware that some changes may be made in the several novel arrangements and improvements in tension or micrometer wrenches above described, as well as in the details of the instructions involved, without departing from the scope of the present in vention as herein described and claimed. Hence, 1 do not limit my invention to the exact arrangements and combinations of the devices and parts as herein described, nor do I confine myself to the exact details of the construction of said parts as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

I claim:-

1. In a device of the kind described, a hollow nandle member having a bifurcated lower end, a wrench plate rotatably mounted in said bifurcated lower end of said handle member, a lock-block having a stem extent ing into said hollow handle member, means on said wrench plate with which said lockblock cooperates, a compression spring within said hollow handle member and cooperating with the stem of said lock-block for yieldably holding the latter operatively engaged with said wrench plate, a. micrometer head threaded upon said handle-member to engage and vary the tension of said compression spring, and means connected with said head for adjusting the normal initial tension of said compression spring, comprising a spring seating means having a thread ed shank engaged through the end wall of said head, and a finger piece secured to the external end of said shank.

In a device of the kind described, a hollow handle member having a bifurcated lower end, a wrench plate rotatably mounted in said bifurcated lower end of said handle member, a lock-block, said lock-block having a stem extending upwardly into said hollow handle member, means on said wrench plate with which said lock-block cooperates, a compression spring within said hollow handle member and cooperating with said stern of said lock'block for yieldably holding the latter operatively engaged with said wrench plate, a micrometer head threaded upon said handle member to engage and vary the tension of said compression spring, and a detent means to cooperate with said lock-block to hold the latter when raised to released position relative to said wrench-plate.

In a device of the kind described, a hollow handle member having a bifurcated lower end, a wrench plate rotatably mounted in said bifurcated lower end of said handle member, a lock-block provided with a. latch-shoulder, said lock-block having a stem extending upwardly into said hollow handle member, means on said wrench plate with which said lock-block cooperates, a compression spring within said hollow handle member and cooperating with said stem of said lock-block for yieldably holding the latter operatively engaged with said wrench plate, a micrometer head threaded upon said handle member to engage and vary the tension of said compression spring, and a latchspring means to cooperate with said latchshoulder of said lock-block to hold the latter when raised to released position relative to said wrench-plate.

4. In a device of the kind described, a hollow handle member having a bifurcated lower end, a wrench plate rotatably mounted in said bifurcated lower end of said handle member, a lock-block provided with a latch-shoulder, said lock-block having a stem extending upwardly into said hollow handle member, means on said wrench plate with which said lock-block cooperates, a compression spring within said hollow handle member and cooperating with said stem of said lock-block for yieldably holding the latter operatively engaged with said wrench plate, a micrometer head threaded upon said handle member to engage and vary the tension of said compression spring, a latchspring secured to said bifurcated lower end of said handle member having at its upper end a transverse latch-bar to cooperate with said latch shoulder of said lock-block to hold the latter when raised to released position relative to said wrench-plate, and said latch-bar having a laterally projecting lug extending beyond the side of said bifurcated lower end of said handle member.

5. In a device of the kind described, a hollow handle member having a bifurcated lower end, a wrench plate rotatably mounted in said bifurcated lower end of said handle member, a lock-block provided with a latch-shoulder, said lock-block having a stem extending upwardly into said hollow handle member, means on said wrench plate with which said lock-block cooperates, a compression spring within said hollow handle member and cooperating with said stem of said lock-block for yieldably holding the latter operatively engaged with said wrench. plate, a micrometer head threaded upon said handle member to engage and vary the tension of said compression spring, a latchspring secured to said bifurcated lower end of said handle member having at its upper end a transverse latch-bar to cooperate with said latch shoulder of said lock-block to hold the latter when raised to released po sition relative to said wrenclrplate, and said latch-bar having a laterally projecting lug extending beyond the side of said bifurcated lower end of said handle member, and means engageable with said lug for releasing said latch-spring and its latch-bar from said holding relation to said lock-block.

6. In a device of the kind described, a hollow handle member having a bifurcated lower end, a wrench plate rotatably mounted in said bifurcated lower end of said handle member, a lock-block provided with a latch-shoulder, said lock-block having a stem extending upwardly into said hollow handle member, means on said wrench plate with which said lock-block cooperates, a compression spring within said hollow handle member and cooperating with said stem of said lock-block for yieldably holding the latter operatively engaged with said wrench plate, a micrometer head threaded upon said handle member to engage and vary the ten sion of said compression spring, a latchspring secured to said bifurcated lower end of said handle member having at its upper end a transverse latch-bar to cooperate with said latch shoulder of said lock-block to hold the latter when raised to released position relative to said wrench-plate, and said latch-bar having a laterally projecting lug extending beyond the side of said bifur cated lower end of said handle member, and means engageable with said lug for releasing said latch spring and its latch bar from said holding relation to said lock-block, comprising a cam pivoted on a side of said bifurcated lower end of said handle-member, a trigger-lever means for actuating said cam, and spring means for holding said cam and its trigger lever means in normal position.

7. In a device of the kind described, a hollow-handle member having a bifurcated lower end, a wrench plate rotatably mounted in said bifurcated lower end of said handle member, a lock-block, said lock-block having a stem extending upwardly into said hollow handle member, means on said wrench plate with which said lock-block cooperates, a compression spring within said hollow handle member and cooperating with said stem of said lock-block for yieldably holding the latter operatively engaged with said wrench plate, a micrometer head threaded upon said handle member to engage and vary the tension of said compres sion spring, and a detent means to cooperate with said lock-block to hold the latter when raised to released position relative to said wrench-plate, and means for releasing said detent means from holding relation to said lock-block.

In testimony that I claim the invention set forth above I have hereunto set my hand this 15th day of February, 1924:.

GEORGES RIFFLARD.

l/Vitnesses GEORGE D. RICHARDS, Anonrn HANSEN, 

